9:11 I Don'T Want To Forget
How bad can it get, don't ask me that question
I'm on the 97th floor terrified,
hanging from a window, gasping for breath
You want to know,
how bad it can get
On the phone to my wife, saying I love you please never forget
Bodies burst in the street below me, certain I am next
you still want to know,
how bad it can get,
My throat has just been cut, on some passenger jet
Leading my ladder up a stairwell to die, drenched in sweat
Your repeating that question,
how bad can it get
Searching through rubble, unsure if there's a fingertip left
Vaporised into nothing, just a photo for the bereft
Disturbing nightmares wake me, shaking and upset,
stop asking me,
how bad can it get
I go to Afghanistan, an IED rips open my chest
About to be beheaded in Iraq, as a warning to the west
Back on the 97th floor you ask me again,
how bad can it get
Do I agree with Guantánamo extraordinary rendition,
you bet
How about collateral damage, they posed no threat
Whatever it takes, this fate I'll never accept
I'm a civilian too, now I jump burning to death
This poem is to remember,
some have already forgotten
just how bad it can get
Originally written 09/05/2021
2022 Poetry Marathon Mile 9 Poetry Contest
Sponsored by: Mark Toney
07/23/22
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